manakaifandomcom-20200214-history
Zabusinnsir:Grammar
The Zabusinnsir language is a fairly , language. Nouns All nouns have an inherent gender and can be optionally marked for several other things. Number The Zabusinnsir language uses a singulative number system. That is, the basic, unmarked, form of a noun is the and the singular form is marked. Number is marked first. The following examples use the word rhĩl meaning: person. Case There is a large number of cases in the Zabusinnsir language. Case is marked last. The following examples use the words namg meaning: liege, lord, etc., khalh meaning: house, abode, etc., yũa meaning: spring(time), freshness and duqa meaning: small boat, skiff, sloop, etc.. Other These are the markers which are for neither number nor case. "Other" markers come after number (but before case) and are marked in the order they appear here. The following examples use the words kũlh meaning: light and sayi meaning: child. Of course, a noun cannot be both augmentative and diminutive at the same time so these two markers will never appear on the same word. However, in some slang expressions, the two will occur together - this is considered ungrammatical and generally frowned upon. Gender Nouns referring to things for which it makes sense can have gender marked (in which case it is marked before number). Examples of words which this can be done with are rhĩl person, sayi child, yianõ dog, etc. The markers are the same as those for adjectives. For example, sayiac child+FEM would mean "girl" and sayiamki, "boy" child+MASC. Personal Pronouns There are four person words which are combined with standard noun gender and number affixes to create the personal pronouns. 1 The fourth person is the and corresponds to the English "one" as in "One shouldn’t be too quick to judge." Adjectives Adjectives agree with the noun they are modifying in gender, number and case. Gender Gender is marked first. Number Marked after gender. The markers for number are the same for adjectives as the noun markers. Case Case is marked last, as with nouns; however, unlike with nouns, adjectives have only six different markers. Comparatives & Superlatives Adjectives may also be marked with comparative/superlative markers which are placed just before those for case. For all but the superlative (''-mgõ-''), :if the adjective is marked as Nominative (''-fõ''), :: the noun being compared to is in the accusative; or :if the adjective is marked as Accusative (''-lh(a)), :: the noun being compared to is in the nominative. In both instances, a verb is required. ''gũ (to be) is the most basic; however, other verbs, such as dis (to become), are also common. Verbs Verbs have a large number of possible affixes and can become extremely long. Firstly, they agree with the gender, number and person of their subject. Person 1 The fourth person is the and corresponds to the English "one" as in "One shouldn’t be too quick to judge." Gender Marked after person. Number Marked after gender. The markers for number are the same for verbs as the noun markers. Voices, Tenses, Aspects and Moods The large majority of verb affixes fall into one of these categories. Words used in the following examples: * rũkhu - to walk * naqar - to bite * yianõ - a dog * ramgal - to wash (without object, "to wash oneself"; with object, "to wash OBJECT") * tsũ - to go * khalh - a house * sayi - a child * car - a day *:→ caratõtcõ - daily; every day (lit. "many days also") * gũ - to do NB: English translations, especially for mood examples, may be at times inadequate explanation; the accompanying notes should shed light on anything left in doubt by the translation. 1 There is no grammatical in the Zabusinnsir language; however, imperfect aspects such as the progressive, perfect, etc. can perform its various roles. 2 This form may find use in instances where there are several people around and one wishes to be explicit as to which of these people is the target of the command. Non-finite forms Words used in the examples below: * tsũ - to go * pũphu - to believe * sits - to read * dij - to see * ful - a book Verb-Combining Form Used before the verb which it is to be combined with. This is used to express the purpose of some action. * All affixes are attached to the main verb rather than the combining-verb. Noun-Combining Form Used before the noun which it is to be combined with; performs the function of a .